Pinterest is one of the easiest ways to drive traffic to a blog, old or new. In fact in just 5 months, I grew my first blog to over 100,000 page views using Pinterest.
However, this isn’t always the case for most bloggers. Especially people who’ve just started a blog. Sometimes your pins will hardly get any views, saves or clicks. But worry not.
I’m here to crack the big mystery on why Pinterest isn’t driving any traffic to your blog.
1) You don’t have a Pinterest strategy
I can already hear all the gasps. The truth is, most people don’t have a Pinterest strategy and if they do, it’s a generic one that they picked from their favorite blogger or guru.
Over the years, I’ve managed/ran different Pinterest accounts in different niches. I can tell you for free that sometimes the same strategy won’t work on accounts in the same niche. Let alone different niches.
Your Pinterest strategy is not supposed to be generic. It’s not supposed to be a one size fits all. If you’re barely getting any link clicks, you simply don’t have a defined Pinterest strategy.
So what’s a defined Pinterest strategy? A defined Pinterest strategy is a strategy that’s specific to your audience and account.
As we wrap up, I’ll let you know some key things a defined Pinterest strategy should include.
2) Bad pin graphics
This is debatable. We can all relate to that one Pin graphic we did years ago that’s suddenly getting thousands of clicks and we don’t know why (more on this later).
Pinterest acts like a visual Search Engine. If you pin is not visually appealing, people will not click on it. Other than a pin being visually appealing, there are a couple of reasons why your pin graphics might not be getting any clicks.
- Keyword optimization- If you don’t properly keyword optimize your pins, nobody will find them.
- Vague titles.
- You don’t have a CTA.
- You’re not letting the user know what’s in it for them if they click it.
- You don’t have a defined target audience.
- Blurry images/ non readable fonts.
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3) Not A/B testing
This is one of the best Pinterest strategies you will ever implement and the least talked about.
A/B testing is simply comparing two versions of the same thing to see which one performs better.
A/B testing is key on Pinterest and will save you a lot of headaches and guesswork.
Test:
- Different pin graphics- colors, fonts, images.
- Different pin titles.
- Pin descriptions.
- Video pin lengths.
- Pin sizes.
- CTA’s.
- Types of pins- story & video.
- Various keywords.
- Keyword placements.
4) Too many repins
I always see people complaining that they’re barely getting any link clicks despite their Pinterest monthly views being high.
Your Pinterest monthly views are a sum total of the views on your pins plus views from pins you’ve saved. If you’re repinning too much of other people’s content, your Pinterest monthly views will increase but your traffic won’t.
Pinning too much of other people’s content sends traffic to outside sources.
Monthly views on Pinterest are a vanity metric. If your goal is to drive traffic to your blog, you’ll need to prioritize pinning more of your own content.
The 80/20 rule is outdated and no longer works especially for business accounts that are conversions based.
If you want more blog traffic, you need to pin more content that leads users back to your blog.
5) Not auditing your Pinterest account
This is also another great Pinterest strategy and one that very few people follow.
Doing routine Pinterest audits will largely contribute to a long term successful Pinterest Marketing plan. Without this, you’ll keep blindly wondering why even the best strategies aren’t working for you.
Utilize your:
- Pinterest analytics.
- Tailwind analytics (if you use tailwind).
- Google analytics.
In your Pinterest analytics, take note of your top boards. Make sure you filter out pins from other people and account only for pins originally pinned by you.
Check your top pins too and check how much traffic they’re driving to your blog.
Once you narrow down the type of content that people are loving/is converting best, post more of it.
6) Ignoring video pins
Video pins are the most underutilized types of pins on Pinterest and Pinterest’s best kept marketing secret. I swear by video pins and their conversion power.
Pinterest let’s you target specific keywords in your video pin, this alone can put you in front of the exact audience you’re targeting.
By not using video pins, you’re missing out on a lot of traffic.
If you’re a blogger who blogs about blogging or topics that might not have video ideas, add a sticker to your pin graphics. Adding a sticker to your pin graphics in Canva turns them to video pins.
Upload your video pin on Pinterest, choose a clear cover, proper keywords and Search Engine optimize your title & description.
7) Focusing on wrong metrics
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good monthly view count. Everyone loves watching their numbers grow. It gives you a boost and lets you know you’re doing something right.
But…
Like I mentioned earlier, monthly views are vanity metrics. Your monthly views could be in the millions and your link clicks in the hundreds.
If your goal is conversions, your main focus should be on your saves and link clicks.
What’s your link click rate?
How many saves are you getting?
The more people save a pin, the more people get to see it. Aka free marketing for you.
I hear you, your monthly views dropped from 5 million to 3 million. So what happened? It’s either:
a) Pinterest is glitching.
b) A pin you’d repinned is declining (yes this affects your numbers).
c) Your seasonal pins are declining.
Regardless of your views or impressions, the metric that should matter the most to you are your link clicks.
8) You’re impatient
Pinterest works like a slow Search Engine. You probably don’t want to hear this but patience is key.
Sometimes a pin will take long to gain traction then blow up and spread like wildfire.
For example, this pin was seen more than 900,000 times on Pinterest.
If you’ve optimized your pins correctly and you’ve followed all the guidelines, allow the algorithm to do its thing.
A pin that you’ve written off as having performed poorly could be the one that brings you thousands of clicks after some time.
A defined Pinterest Strategy
As promised earlier, here’s what a defined Pinterest Strategy should look like:
- It’s account specific.
- Was achieved after A/B testing.
- Is informed by Pinterest, Google and Tailwind analytics (if you use tailwind).
- Factors in best practices.
- Takes algorithm changes into consideration.
- Is focused on KPI’s (key performance indicators).
- Is conversions based.
Another big mistake I often see people making when it comes to Pinterest Marketing is jumping into it blindly.
Investing in a good and comprehensive Pinterest marketing E-book is key. You get to gather all the relevant information on tried and tested methods and strategies that will give you results.
This is exactly why I created Pin your Way to Conversions.
Pin your Way to Conversions is a comprehensive Pinterest Growth & Marketing blueprint that teaches you how to fast track your growth and conversion process to a destination off Pinterest.
Whether you’re driving traffic to a Blog, Business, Brand, E-commerce store, Affiliate links or an Email list, this conversion based E-book covers the what, why and how of all matters Pinterest Marketing.
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Good information. Pinterest demands more than I have time for; 15 fresh pins a day is a lot to ask, especially for a new blogger who does not yet have a lot of content. One of the things I noticed is that when I look at my Pinterest analytics for just my own pins (removing repins from other bloggers) everything goes up. Since other people’s pins are bringing me down, I am happy to pin more of my own pins, but again it’s a time issue, especially writing all of the descriptions. 😥
It can definitely be a lot of work especially when you’re starting out. For example this blog is only a couple of days old. A good strategy I like to utilize when I’m building a new account or blog is utilizing shoulder niches. Shoulder niches allow you to grow your account while avoiding sending all the traffic you could be getting to outside sources.
About avoiding having repins that bring your numbers down, try to filter the type of content you’re repinning and avoid being too reliant on repins. They do work as a double edged sword but they’re great for boosting an account when you’re first starting out.
Pin templates are a life saver, especially because you can create different variations of the same pin easily. If you do keyword research earlier on, you can come up with different description variants that you’ll use. Try looking at different parts of what your blog post is talking about. For example in this post, I can create different pin graphics that address different parts of this post and have a ton of pins to rotate for the same blog post. This is a little long 😅, thank you for stopping by.
This is really helpful! I’m definitely going to try using more video pins from now on!
Thank you. You should, they’re amazing.
Thanks for this post!! I need to use these tips and refine my Pinterest strategy!!
Thank you for stopping by. A good Pinterest Strategy is the heart of Pinterest Marketing.
This is some really good information you have here! Thank you so much for sharing and giving me ideas of how to fix my own Pinterest strategies that I am using. – Josie xxx
Thank you for stopping by Josie 😁.
I have heard some of these tips but you explain them well. Thank you and I will be implementing these as I build up my strategy!
Thank you Alexa. I’m wishing you well.
Very helpful! I’m really new to Pinterest so this is really clear on how I can improve!! Thank you!
You’re welcome Tina.
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